The Time We Are Given
by pganzer
Summary: <html><head></head>It's the summer after the tragic death of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter is feeling dispirited. Left with a quest which is bigger than life, and which can ultimately cost his own life, he knows he needs to leave the safety and warmth of The Burrow soon. But it's the eve of his 17th birthday and all he wants is a quiet celebration with Ron, Hermione and the Weasleys. Little does</html>


Category: Alternate Universe, Post-HBP

Characters: Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, James Potter, Lily Potter

Pairing: Harry/Ginny (implied), Ron/Hermione (implied)

Genres: Fluff, Humor

Warnings: None

One-Shot

Rating: G

Summary: It's the summer after the tragic death of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter is feeling dispirited. Left with a quest which is bigger than life, and which can ultimately cost _his _own life, he knows he needs to leave the safety and warmth of The Burrow soon. But it's the eve of his 17th birthday and all he wants is a quiet celebration with Ron, Hermione and the Weasleys. Little does he know that two young arrivals will bring not the quiet he seeks, but perhaps the hope he so desperately needs.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the wonderful characters created by J.K. Rowling. I am merely taking a shot and trying to see if I could - ever - write anything as interesting and engaging as she has!

A/N: I generally like time travel stories and came across some great ones during my research on the website. I also discovered another website dedicated entirely to Harry Potter fanfiction:  . /. They used to set themed challenges to their writers and I just loved the idea they had for a Twin Time Travel Challenge. I based my one-shot at the guidelines I found there ( . ?catid=39).

I also want to point out that none of my characters are OC. I'm using all characters created by J.K. Rowling, including James and Lily Potter, Harry and Ginny's children in the original series. Even though Albus Potter looks just like Harry, his middle name is a huge spoiler, even for a time travel piece like mine. So, in this alternate universe, he just stayed home with his parents, cousins, uncles and aunts. This is also slightly AU, since I do not know the exact dates of birthday for the children.

(this is a writing project for an English class at university. English is not my first language, so I apolizige now for any mistakes!)

* * *

><p><strong>The time we are given<strong>

_"We cannot choose the time we live in._

_We can only choose what we do_

_with the time we are given." _

_(Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of The Rings)_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_A jet of green light. He was falling, his body gracefully arched, and it felt like he would never reach solid ground._

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_A second burst of green hit the great snowy owl and she screeched for the very last time._

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_An unseen green spell hit the greatest warrior the Wizarding World has ever seen and he was forever lost to them._

Panting, Harry Potter opened his own eyes. He didn't even scream as he woke up. Not like in the first night he'd had this dream. He merely blinked the sleep away from his eyes, put on his glasses and decided he needed a glass of water.

Slowly, he got up from his camp bed and started the slow and squeaky descent from Ron's room to the kitchen. Even in the early hours of the morning, The Burrow was never whole house was alive with its own peculiar sounds: the squeak of the stairs, the moaning of the ghoul in the attic, the rustle of leaves and plants in the garden "_The gnomes must be coming back"_, Harry thought. He and Ron had spent the greater part of yesterday's afternoon de-gnoming the garden, but the little buggers loved playing that game.

Smiling to himself, he got his glass of water from the kitchen sink and sat at the table. Alone, and now fully awake, his thoughts went back to that one word, _Horcruxes_. He knew he was supposed to be grieving. He knew he was supposed to be feeling lost. The word, however, kept him grounded. It kept him from feeling as miserable as he had been when he lost Sirius.

Sirius, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, Hedwig… The first of many deaths, he knew. The ones that hurt him the most. He would do what he was left to do, or he would die trying. Dumbledore trusted him. Ron and Hermione went to great lengths to protect their families so that they could go with him. When the time came, they would leave.

Now was not the time, though. He still had the trace on him, and had to wait two more days for his seventeenth birthday. He looked up. _One more day_. Outside, the sky was turning lighter, and Harry could see faint tinges of orange and yellow to the day was dawning. His last day as an underaged wizard. _Well, might as well get an early start on breakfast_.

When Molly Weasley arrived, clad in her embroidered dressing gown, she found him busy at the stove, frying eggs and bacon, with Crookshanks' eyes following his movements, hopeful for a rasher. She gave Harry a swift kiss in the head.

"Be a dear and try waking up Ron. We have a very busy day ahead of us, and there's no sleeping in this morning. I'll go get the girls"

Harry marveled at her. Bill and Fleur's wedding was taking place the next weekend, and on top of everything else, she was organizing a family dinner that Sunday, so that everyone could be together. The Burrow was filled to capacity: Bill was back in his old bedroom, which he would share with Charlie once he arrived from Romania; Fleur and Hermione were sharing Ginny's room, and Harry was, as usual, bunking with Ron. The twins were at their flat in London, but would drop-by so frequently it felt like they had never left. Their room was going to be used by Fleur's parents and little sister who were arriving from France in a couple of days. Stranded from the family, only Percy was not involved in the activities.

Meals at The Burrow were always noisy, with the table laden with all the scrumptious dishes Mrs. Weasley made. Breakfast that morning was not an exception. Harry went back downstairs, with Ron in tow and the girls right behind them, to find Molly Weasley waving her wand at pots and pans, as they hovered from stove to the table: scrambled eggs and bacon, porridge, sausages and buttered toasts, marmalade and cereal, a jug of fresh orange juice and freshly brewed coffee. Magic was truly extraordinary, and Harry still caught himself feeling amazed by it from time to time.

Bill and Fleur were already eating, as was Mr. Weasley, who was quietly perusing the Daily Prophet, while drinking a cup of coffee.

"There you are", said Mrs. Weasley. "Eat your breakfast before it gets cold. And eat up! I've got a list of chores for each of you"

Ron groaned. "But mom…"

"Not 'but mom's", Ronald! It's your brother's wedding and I need all the help to make it as wonderful an occasion as I can!"

"We'll help, Mrs. Weasley", said Hermione, looking reproachfully at him.

"Of course I'll help", Said Ron exasperated. "I just wanted to play a bit of Quidditch this afternoon, right Harry?"

Slight embarrassed to be pulled into the argument, Harry was about to say he had no problem helping out, when two soft popping noises came from the living room. It was a very faint noise, but within seconds, they were all up, wands at the ready.

"Behind me and dad. All of. Now", Bill said with a hard whisper.

He and Mr. Weasley went first.

"You stay here, Harry"

"What? Hermione?! No! Death Eaters could be there!"

"All the more reason for you to stay! Listen, you and Ginny are still underage and Merlin forbid if we gave the Ministry any more reason to come after you!"

She, Ron and Fleur moved quietly behind Mr. Weasley and Bill. Harry, feeling useless, stood behind with Ginny, who didn't look happy herself, and Mrs. Weasley, who had a look of utmost terror in her face.

"_I'll fight! I don't care about the damn Ministry! It's my bloody fight too!"_As he stood there, ready to take action if necessary, watching the others move into the living room, a number of things happened all at once: there were gasps of surprise, they could hear a wand falling to the ground and a squeak:

"I'm sorry, Grandpa! It his fault! He touched it!", a little girl's voice trembled and betrayed her tears.

"You touched, Lily!", the boy's voice was loud, but not angry. He sounded scared.

"Noooo! It wasn't me! Grandpa, tell him", the girl, Lily?, pleaded.

At the sound of children, Mrs. Weasley, Harry and Ginny burst into the living room to find the adults, wands at the ready, - except for Fleur's, which was on the floor next to her - looking bewildered at two tiny figures in front of the fireplace. Harry was not the tallest of them all, so he moved around Ron a bit to get a better look, and he felt Ginny moving along with him.

He almost dropped his wand when he saw them. He felt Ginny's intake of breath. They were both frozen, unable to tear their eyes away from the children. The boy, who mustn't have been older than seven, looked almost like him: untidy jet black hair with huge big brown eyes. In spite of their early outburst, he was holding the hand of a little girl who couldn't be older than five and who looked like a miniature version of Ginny: straight long red hair and, again, those big brown eyes. Hers were shining with tears.

As their gazes locked, the little girl released the boy's hand and ran to Harry, shouting:

"Daddy! Daddy! It was him! You know it was! I didn't do anything!". She launched herself into his arms, but caught his midriff, since he was too astonished to do anything.

"Dad! We were just playing! It was an accident! We didn't mean to break it!". The boy had moved too, and was now just as close.

"You didn't mean", cried the girl, her voice a bit muffled because she was still holding Harry.

"I DIDN'T!", the boy shouted. "Mom, tell him!", he took both of Ginny's hands. "Tell him I didn't do it! Please…", and he started crying.

Harry was lost. What was going on? Voldemort would never in a million years think of anything that weirdly elaborated to get a hold of Harry. It must have been something else. What he needed was to talk to these kids and find out why they thought Harry was their father and, strangely as it sounded, Ginny their mother. He tried. He opened and closed his mouth several times, like a fish gasping for air, but no sound came. He looked around and saw mirror looks of bewilderment. Mrs. Weasley looked as if she was going to faint.

"Molly, dear, have a seat. Bill, get your mother some brandy", asked Mr. Weasley. "In fact, get her firewhisky".

Fleur knelt beside her and kept fanning her with an old copy of Witch's Weekly. Bill came back with eight glasses of firewhisky, "To help us all recover from the shock". Hermione intervened. She also knelt in front of both kids:

"Hi", she started,uncertain. 'Would you like a glass of water?"

"Yes, please, auntie.", said the boy politely as she gasped and went to the kitchen.

"_Auntie_? Is Hermione your aunt?", asked Ron, who could see where things were going.

"Of course she is, uncle Ron! Don't be silly!", the little girl giggled and seemed a bit relaxed at Ron's silly jokes.

"Hmm.. Lily, is it?", Harry asked. The girl nodded, now frowning. "And what is your name?", he turned to the boy who was still holding Ginny's hand.

"Dad? It's me, James! You don't remember me?", his voice sounded hurt.

Just then, Hermione went back and handed each kid a glass of water.

"James, drink a bit of your water and tell us what was it that got broken", Ginny asked.

"It wasn't me! It was an accident!", he started, slopping water down his shirt as he talked.

"Okay, tell us. We won't be mad.". Ginny sat crosslegged on the floor. Harry, Ron and the little girl Lily did the same. All eyes were on them.

"Well…", he paused.

"Tell them James. We were just playing. We didn't know.", encouraged Lily who was sitting quite comfortably in Harry's lap.

"Ok, Lils. Al, Lily and I were playing in the attic."

"Hugo and Rose were there too", piped in Lily as if to say they were not alone at fault.

"Yes, we were all there, and Al saw something shiny in a case on the shelf. Rose said not to touch it, but we got curious. So, we got a chair, I climbed it and got a glass box with a pretty necklace inside."

"It was so pretty! Rose and I wanted to try it on. But James said it was his finding and he would put it on first. I wasn't fair! A necklace is for girls!", she said matter-of-factly. "I tried telling him so, but he had already opened the box and taken the necklace."

"Lily took one part of the necklace and put it around herself. I took another and held the pendant so that she couldn't see... and she was trying to get it out of my hands, and suddenly everything went spinning and now we are here at The Burrow", he concluded.

Harry understood what had happened. They all did. It was not a matter of who were the children, that much was obvious. It was a matter of when they were from and how they were going to get them back.

"Where is the 'necklace'?", Hermione asked.

"Here. Its broken.", Lily handed her the familiar chain, looking gloom. "I'm sorry we broke your pretty necklace, auntie."

She took it in her hands. Harry could see the broken chain. Ron gasped as the familiarity struck him.

"But that's… that's… the time-turner!"

"What?!", James jumped to his feet. "NO!"

"What happened James?", Lily moved closer to him.

"The necklace you took is a time-timer, Lily", explained Hermione. "It's the one I had during my third year at Hogwarts."

"You are in the past, sweetie.", said Ginny.

Lily started crying again. "I want my mom!" Ginny held her close.

"How are we going to send them back?", Harry asked, looking at Ron and Hermione, who looked just as stunned as he felt.

"I'll be right back", said Hermione as she rushed upstairs, probably to get one or two or twenty books to consult.

As soon as she left, Molly Weasley appeared to come out of her state of shock.

"Well… it appears that we have all left the breakfast table without having so much as a bread crumb. I'll fix everyone a plate. You are hungry, aren't you, my dears?", she asked the kids with the warmest of smiles.

"Yes, please, Grandma.", said James.

"Thanks Grandma.", said Lily, who had seen to have calmed down. "Can I help?"

"Oh, no, dear, thanks.", Molly Weasley replied overcome with emotions. "You seem to have raised them well, Ginny dear.", she added as she left in order to feed them all.

"Molly, I'll help.", offered Fleur, getting up from the sofa and following Mrs. Weasley.

Lily and James were still sitting on the floor. James was closer to Harry and Ginny was still holding Lily close, even though the little girl was a lot calmer and seemed to be very interested in the surroundings.

"Does it look very different from the Burrow you know?", asked Harry.

"A little bit, Da…", she interrupted herself. Ginny coughed a little too loud. Harry looked up and she was looking at him as if encouraging him to go on,

"It's okay, Lily. You know my future self as your daddy, so I don't mind you calling me that, ok?"

"Are they good parents?", Ron, tactless as usual, blurted out.

"RON!"

"Don't ask them that!"

"Oh, they are the best! Mommy is a bit scary sometimes, but we all have loads of fun.", Lily told them.

"And who are Al, Hugo and Rose?", Ginny asked.

"Al is our brother, Albus.", James replied. "I'm the first, then Al, then Lily here. Hugo and Rose are our cousins, uncle Ron's and aunt Hermione's children".

THUMP! CRASH! BANG!

The sound of books, cauldron and phials falling from Hermione's hand made them all turn around.

"What did you say, James?", Ron asked, looking as thunderstruck as she did.

"Well…", he sounded scared of what he might have told them.

"Isn't obvious?!", Ginny started. "The two of you will finally realize that all that bickering you do can only mean love! Are they good cousins?"

"Rose is the best! We always have slumber parties with Vicky, Dominique and Roxie!", piped Lily, excited at the mere memory of those slumber parties!

"Well, and often go camping with you, uncle Bill. Me, Al, Hugo, Freddie, and Teddy! It's a lot more fun than a silly slumber party!", said James.

"No, they're not! Auntie Hermy says it's all fun no matter what we do!", Lily shouted.

"James, stop teasing your sister. Lily, you know he's just saying that to annoy you", sid Mr. Weasley wisely. "Now, who are all these people you just mentioned?"

"Vicky, her name is Victoire, but we call her Vicky, and Dominique are uncle Bill's and aunt Fleur's girls. Freddie and Roxanne are uncle George's and aunt Angelina's.", explained James.

"George and Angelina?! I've always thought it was Fred that would end up with", said Ginny looking puzzled.

"We don't have an uncle Fred, mommy.", said Lily sadly.

A heavy silence fell in the room. No Fred? What would a world without Fred be like? Harry could not imagine a George without a Fred. He decided then that he did not want to know more about that. That resolution was etched in every one of the faces in the living room.

Ron cleared his throat.

"And who's Teddy?"

"Daddy's godson. He's around a lot.", Lily explained, brighten up a bit.

"And who are his parents?", Ron asked. James looked a bit uncomfortable in answering.

"Well, we don't know much about them. But his dad was called Remus and his mom was Tonks. We don't know them. Neither does Teddy."

No Fred. No Lupin. No Tonks. Harry didn't know what to make of this future. Sure, his children seemed happy and everything they said made him feel like he finally got the family he wanted. He was going to live. And marry Ginny! That was crazy! Hadn't he just broken up with her? Everything changed so fast. That very morning he had woken up from a recurrent nightmare. Now he was feeling confused and hopeful and sad, and he wanted nothing more than to change the fate of those who would not live to see their children.

Hermione seemed to sense his thoughts, for she sat down in front of them all and said in that business-like manner she always had when she was sure what to do.

"Harry! We can't! And you know it. We cannot change anything about the future. All we can do is send them back and find a way to erase these day from our minds. Ron, hand me the time-turner."

He took it from the floor, where it was since Hermione had come back from upstairs. As he passed it to her, he noticed strange markings on the hourglass.

"What's this? It wasn't here before.. There seem to be numbers in it…" He looked closer. "No, they are dates. Look, Harry."

In the hourglass it read:

**July 30th, 1997 - July 30th, 2013 **

"So, I guess we just need to repair the chain and reverse the dates here to send them back. Right, Hermione?"

"That's right, Ron!", she exclaimed, surprised at his cleverness.

"Always the tone of surprise", he said, smirking. He handed her the time-turner, having already reversed the dates etched on it.

"_Reparo_". In seconds, the thin golden chain was put back together!

"Yay! I knew you could fix it, auntie!"

Lily was jumping up and down.

"We can go home, James! Yay"

"Not before eating breakfast", called Mrs. Weasley from the doorway. She looked teary-eyed, and Harry was not surprising if she had listened to the whole conversation in the living room.

It was almost past lunchtime, and none of them had eaten their breakfast. And it was only when they were sitting around the table did Harry realize how hungry he actually was. But he wasn't the only one. He was amused to see that he and James had piled the same things on their plates: eggs, bacon, sausages and toast, and was eating with a great enthusiasm. Lily was sitting at Ginny's lap and they were both chatting animatedly as they were eating toast with butter and marmalade. Hermione and Fleur had joined their conversation and Mrs. Weasley looked delighted at them.

Harry looked at Ron and caught him staring at Hermione admiringly, as if seeing her for the very first time. He smiled sheepishly when he caught Harry's gaze.

"Hermione, dear, eat some more. I know buttered toasts are your favorite!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, but I need to start on a memory potion for all of us."

In the midst of many _whats_ and _whys_, Lily's soft voice could be heard.

"Don't you want to remember us, auntie?"

"Of course I do, sweetie. And, if everything really works out in the end, I won't have to wait too long to meet you all. But time-traveling has very strict laws and the most important one is that you cannot be seen! But we saw you, talked to you, got to know about our futures… and that's dangerous. It's wonderful, but dangerous."

"Hermione's right", said Harry. "Knowing you can all survive, can make us reckless or overconfident and the future you come from may not even happen."

"Besides, we will all have time to get to know each other later, right?", smiled Ron. Lily and James looked a bit more sure about all the memory erasing potion.

They all agreed that sending the kids first, while the potion brewed. Hermione was using the living room coffee table as a working bench. Ginny was helping her by slicing alerrawia scales, the only ingredient to a memory potion that could erase their memory. They were both gifted potioneers and had decided that eight halves would suffice in helping them forget about the past hours.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, James. Be good to your sister, okay?"

"I always am, Daddy!" James winked, as Harry knelt down in front of Lily. "And you…" But he didn't have a chance to finish. She had run to his arms and was squeezing him into a bone-crushing hug. " I love you, Daddy.", she whispered. Harry felt his heart skip a beat. Ginny had a similar farewell with both of them.

They all said their goodbyes to the children as Hermione put the chain around their necks and gave the hourglass one turn. She stepped aside and they watch Lily and James, who were holding hands and beaming at them all, fade into thin air.

The potion still had to simmer for some time, so Harry, his mind heavy with all kinds of thoughts, went outside to be alone for a while. "_So, Ron and Hermione have two kids, I become a godfather to Lupin's son, Fred dies… Ginny and I have kids. I marry her. This means I survive, I can defeat Voldermort after all! Dumbledore was right in trusting me." _

The feeling of dejectedness he was feeling since this whole thing had started, since Dumbledore's death, had left him just as suddenly as it had arrived. "_I marry Ginny! I have a family!_" He felt lighthearted and hopeful for the first time in a long time. It didn't matter he would not remember them. At that moment, he felt that LIly and James had given him the best birthday present he could ever have asked for: hope.

"Harry?", her voice was tentative.

"Hey, Ginny.", he smiled at her.

"The potion is ready. Hermione wants us to drink at the same time, as a precaution, not to risk any rupture in time"

Harry rolled his eyes at that piece of information. "Figures." They moved back to the house. Harry took her hand. "Ginny…"

"I know, Harry. There will be time for us…"

"Several sunlit days", he smiled. She smiled back and hand in hand they entered the house. Bill and Fleur were sitting on the sofa, Mr. Weasley on the armchair by the fireplace, his newspaper on his lap. Mrs. Weasley was standing by the kitchen door. There was no sign of the cauldron, and when Ron handed him a cup of potion that looked a lot like hot chocolate, he understood what Ginny had meant by precaution.

"Okay, everyone, on three.", said Hermione. "One, two, three."

Harry drank from his cup. The potion tasted like maple syrup. He blinked.

"There you are, you four. I told you I needed your help today!", Mrs. Weasley was screeching. And that was never a good sign.

Ron groaned. "But mom…"

"Not 'but mom's", Ronald! Now, get moving and let me tell you what I want for the four of you." She marched to the kitchen with Ron and Hermione in tow. Harry and Ginny followed them.

"Maybe if you are extra helpful, we can pay a little bit of quidditch before dinner tonight. What do you say, Potter? Up to the challenge?"

"Always, Weasley." He smiled at her. She was beaming at him. They lock gazes. Harry didn't really know why but gazing into her big chocolate brown eyes made him feel hopeful about everything that was worrying him just a few hours before. The way her eyes lit up, like sunlit days, made him feel sure that whatever it was that was out there, waiting for him, was something he could handle.

She blinked and broke eye contact. As she turn her back to him, he took a deep breath and inhaled the flowery scent of Ginny's hair. Out of nowhere, echos of giggles and laughter and innocence filled his mind. He was going to be fine. They were going to be fine. He would do the best with the time he was given. The future never seemed so bright as it did that morning, and he couldn't even remember what was the nightmare that had woken him up for what it seemed like the umpteenth time that week. And that night, the eve of his seventeenth birthday, he dreamt of little red haired girls, and mischievous boys, and laughter and joy. That nightmare would never haunt him again.


End file.
